State Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker on the set of WKTV Journal: In Focus.
WKTV Staff
news@wktv.org
On the latest episode of WKTV Journal: In Focus, State Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, a Republican who currently represents the 26th District, which includes the City of Kentwood, talks with program host Ken Norris on a wide-range of topics, including the opioid crisis and her coming effort to become Michigan’s next Attorney General.
But in the wake of last week’s mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, Sen. Schuitmaker also talks about her support of 2nd Amendment gun rights in general but also Senate bills she voted for in 2017 which, if approved by the state House of Representatives and Governor, would allow guns in gun-free zones such as schools and daycare centers.
“When you look at mass shootings, the good majority of them happen in gun-free zones,” Sen. Schuitmaker said to WKTV. “No amount of laws every really enforces these mass shootings from happening, because murder is against the law and we still see it every single day.
“I do support the 2nd Amendment and I am a CPL holder myself. I certainly believe I should be allowed to take precautions and protect myself, and my family and my home. As you saw, down in Texas, in that awful, terrible church shooting, it was a 2nd Amendment holder, a CPL holder, that actually stopped that gunman from more carnage. I certainly supported the legislation (Senate bills) that you referred to because I believe that if teachers that are certified and go through additional training, that they won’t be helpless in a classroom, and that in certain circumstances they might be able to prevent such carnage as what we saw there (in Florida), because our kids lives are at risk.”
Also on the episode, Kevin Polston, Superintendent of Godfrey-Lee Public Schools, talks about his school district’s upcoming request for public support of an extension of an existing sinking fund millage — an effort to improve safety, security and technology while allowing more general fund dollars to be spent in the classroom.
The entire episode of “WKTV Journal: In Focus” airs on cable television in the Wyoming and Kentwood areas on Comcast WKTV Channel 26 and on AT&T Channel 99 Government channel.
The episode will debut on WKTV cable channels on Tuesday, Feb. 27, at 6:30 p.m., will again air on Thursday, March 1, also at 6:30 p.m., and will continue on the same days and times the week of March 5. But all interviews included in episodes of WKTV Journal: In Focus are also available on YouTube at WKTVVideos.
